10:53 AM: Thanks for the tips. SDOT says the West Seattle low bridge – at one point expected to remain closed until next Saturday – has reopened ahead of schedule; this phase of cylinder work is done.
12:46 PM: We asked SDOT why they were able to reopen much sooner than projected. Spokesperson Chris Miller replied: “The removal and reinstallation work went better than expected. The Bridge Maintenance Crew had the advantage of executing the cylinder removal early this year. Their previous experience working in the limited space and handling such an unwieldy object helped them feel more at ease with the process. Additionally, many of the complications we faced during the initial removal process earlier this year did not occur this time. Predicting the complex issues that may arise during the rehabilitation of aging mechanical and electrical infrastructure is a challenge. We hope that we won’t encounter any significant problems when we reinstall the refurbished cylinder that was removed over the past weekend and the rehabilitation work for the other cylinders shifts to the west pier housing next year.”
The original announcement warned of future “short-term” closures ahead, so we also asked if there’s any timeline for those. While other low-bridge work continues without requiring closure time, “The next major project that will require a bridge outage is the replacement of the bridge control system. This work is currently projected for early spring, and the exact date will be determined based on the completion of the communications line installation. The reinstallation of the cylinder that was removed over the past weekend is still to be determined.”
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